Warning: Major spoilers for Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil follow.
Austin Abrams knew Resident Evil was taking a major swing when he discovered that Bryan, the medical courier audiences follow throughout the movie, would not survive the outbreak as a conventional hero.
Instead, Bryan becomes one of the very monsters he has spent the film trying to escape. Abrams describes the ending as both “risky and gutsy,” praising Cregger and Sony for refusing to give the character—or the audience—an easy way out.
“You follow this one guy the whole time, so hopefully you’re enjoying watching him and rooting for him,” Abrams said. “Then to have him not make it is really risky and gutsy, which is what I love about all of Zach’s work.”
The gamble arrives at the end of a reboot that has earned the franchise’s best reviews and highest-grossing opening weekend, collecting $60 million during its first three days.
Bryan’s journey ends with a brutal transformation
The film begins with Bryan speaking by phone to his girlfriend, Michelle, about her newly discovered pregnancy. He promises to be home in 20 minutes, but instead accepts a last-minute delivery that takes him to Raccoon City General Hospital. During their continued conversation, he argues for preserving their current life rather than embracing the changes that would come with parenthood.
That call is interrupted when Bryan strikes a woman standing in the road. The bloodied pedestrian is infected, and Bryan is soon swept into the t-virus outbreak. His attempts to help others—including a police officer and a little girl inside an RV—only pull him deeper into the disaster. The girl eventually bites his arm, beginning the infection that will determine his fate.
Two Umbrella Corporation members tell Bryan that a lab leak caused the outbreak. They also reveal that his package contains the “neutralizing base” needed by scientists at Raccoon City General to complete an antidote.
By the time Bryan reaches the hospital parking garage, the infection is spreading rapidly. Unable to reach Michelle because he has no cell service, he records an audio message apologizing for his reaction to the pregnancy. He says he wants to start a family with her and ends by telling Michelle, “I think you’d be an amazing mom.”
Bryan eventually reaches the laboratory on the 28th floor and delivers the essential ingredient in time. The Umbrella scientists, however, fail to finish the antidote before he succumbs. Bryan kills them and transforms into an amalgamated creature resembling the fused monster that pursued him from the farmhouse earlier in the movie.
The final reveal reframes the entire film as the origin story of a Resident Evil monster—one who had a life, relationship and future before the outbreak.
Why the missing message matters
The movie never shows Michelle receiving Bryan’s recording, denying viewers a final moment of reassurance. Abrams sees that unresolved message as central to the ending’s tragedy.
“She thinks he doesn’t want to have this baby, when he actually does,” he said. “He realizes, ‘No, I love her. Having a kid isn’t as scary as I thought, and I want to do it with her.’”
Abrams added that Bryan changes for the better, but nobody may ever know it. He did leave open a slim possibility that the message could have been sent offscreen or that someone might eventually recover his phone. Neither outcome is confirmed in the film.
The actor also welcomed Cregger’s refusal to cushion Bryan’s death. Abrams argued that many contemporary movies are hesitant to kill a likable central character without finding some way to soften the emotional impact.
“We’re here to feel, man. We’re here to go through something,” he said. “So I’m just appreciative that Zach is willing to take a risk like that.”
Abrams rejected the “cool action hero” approach
For his performance, Abrams wanted Bryan to appear as far removed as possible from a polished action hero. That meant reacting to the increasingly bizarre horrors with fear, confusion and occasionally a high-pitched scream.
“I wanted to look like the antithesis of the ‘cool action hero’ as much as I possibly could because that feels the most interesting,” Abrams said. His guiding question was how an ordinary person would realistically respond to the outbreak.
The production demanded extensive running, precise timing and night shoots. During a sprint through snowy Raccoon City, a 150-pound blood bag nearly struck Abrams. He said he did not realize at the time just how close it came and was pleased that the danger reads onscreen.
The role followed Abrams’ performance as an unhoused thief struggling with drug addiction in Cregger’s Weapons. Abrams stayed attached to that project in 2023 after strike-related scheduling problems cost Cregger his original cast. The film became a critical and commercial hit, and Amy Madigan won the Oscar for best supporting actress.
What Happens Next?
After leading Resident Evil, Abrams will next be seen in Brian Duffield’s survival thriller Whalefall, arriving Oct. 16. He plays Jay, a scuba diver swallowed whole by a sperm whale. Abrams went into preparation for Resident Evil in Prague shortly after the extended Whalefall shoot, leaving virtually no break between the productions.
Although Abrams joked that he now needs a movie “like a lullaby,” he said his next choice will depend on the filmmaker and the projects that come his way. Resident Evil is now playing in movie theaters nationwide.